So it's been a while...

So we went to Montmartre... yea... pretty sketchy if you ask me. The first guy asked how much, the second guy offered us weed, and the third guy followed us back to the metro station. Just glad I wasn't alone. The Sacre Coeur at night is gorgeous though and totally worth it.

Friday we finally got our Louvre passes. So now we can go all the time. Tous les jours, bien sur! And we had a speed tour. That's always fun. At least it was better than the 20 minutes we got there in high school (oh, Kelly... it'll be great when you get here).

Then I spent the afternoon freaking out about what courses to take. Monique recommended a course on urban development... which, you know, I never thought I would ever consider, but I'm getting a little desperate. So now I'm feeling like it's probably a great idea. We'll see. I'll find some other options soon, too.

Then we went out to dinner and dancing! Dinner was fabulous. And friends are great. Then we wandered to find cheap wine and/or happy hours. We sort of succeeded. We ended up in this oddly shaped cave with too many bright lights and a terrible DJ with French boys who refused to dance with us. But whatever, it was cool. We started the dance party... as usual.



The next morning we left en train for Normandie. Well... most of us. Except for Sophia. She missed the train. Haha. She had to take the next one two hours later... eek! Most of us slept the whole way there, so it was pretty necessary. Then we were starving when we woke up, and we scarfed down whatever they gave us. We toured Caen, and then we took a bus to the Bayeux Tapestry. It wasn't as long as I remembered... so that was nice. And we ate un petit gouter at a patisserie. Then we ate again. Then we drank again. (We eat and drink a lot.) It was... how shall I put this?... a great Saturday night.

The next morning we went to the American cemetery and Pointe du Hoc and some random castle and Omaha Beach. Lots of information... in French, of course, so you know, I didn't understand most of it. But it was good times.




I crashed when I got home, and French class again the morning was just absolute torture. I don't even remember what we did. And our lecture on French politics this afternoon was equally as boring and uninformative and waaay too freaking long. They never put end times in our orientation schedule, which is a really terrible thing.

Then I went home and cried and slept. But I did watch the news again tonight, and I actually got the gist of every segment. That was pretty sweet. And I read some of Le Figaro. Tres interessant. Then I went back out to Saint Michel avec mes amies, and we found a cute little cafe. 'Twas nice. The best part was when we entered:

Waitress: Cinq?
Us: Oui.
Waitress: Huit?
Us: Cinq.

(Translation for those who don't speak French:
Waitress: Five?
Us: Yes.
Waitress: Eight?
Us: Five)

Do you get why? Do you get why? It's funny cuz 'oui' and 'huit' sound similar. Hahaha.

So done.



Anyway, tomorrow... guess what? More French class! We have a test! Yes, in our orientation program. We have to write... lame, right? This will probably go terribly wrong, but I guess that'll be the exciting thing to my morning. Then a tour of the Quartier Latin. Good times.

Today at dinner my host father started asking me about my day, and I couldn't remember what I did this morning. I just stared at him blankly until he said "trop de francais? pas de probleme." (Translation: too much French? don't worry.)

So yea... that's the joy in my life right now.

So today was a bit more amusing than yesterday. Yesterday was full of academic talk... which is very clearly totally unimportant. Today was more... fun.

We had another 3-hour French class this morning... which was, you know... fine and all. Just not the most exciting thing to do your first week in Paris. But we did have fun discussing our host families. We talked about the differences in dinner conversations. Also, we've discovered that, just like in the US, French families are all different. Haha. No host family is perfect, just like no family is perfect. My host brother is 22, and he doesn't leave his room. He also refuses to talk to me... or even look at me. Oh well. My host parents very nice, very sweet, and extremely patient. I understand most of what they say, but sometimes the dinner conversation goes a little too fast for me, and then they reexplain everything... still in French, but slower. So I can get it. They've been hosting American students for 10 years, so I think they're pretty used to it. And they must like it. I'm very happy here. They invite me to watch the news with them after dinner. And the let me read Le Figaro. It's much easier to read the paper than to watch the news. The journalists speak very fast. And there's a lot of vocabulary that I don't know. But already I'm understanding more! And I'm understanding more at dinner, too. And in class. Slow progression. A few people keep telling me that since I'm farther behind everyone else, I'll get more out of the program... I guess that's good? I mean, I'm definitely not the worst in the program... but I'm certainly not the best either. Whatever... I'm talking with the director tomorrow about courses. So I won't fail this semester.

Then we went to the Louvre after lunch to get our free semester passes. But, of course, what else? They were on strike! So we have to wait until tomorrow to get them. Then we walked around the Palais Royale and the cute little streets in the area. 'Twas great, until we ran across a HUGE STRIKE!!! We couldn't cross the street. It was absolutely hilarious. So French.

But Tufts fed us at an amazing pastry shop. It made us all very happy.

Tonight we're going to Montmartre after dinner. I'm pretty stoked. I hope we don't get pickpocketed... or worse. Cheers!

I am absolutely exhausted. I counted up my actual hours of walking, and I legit think I walked for 8 hours today. No freaking joke. My feet hurt, my back hurts, and my brain hurts.

I woke up very early to deposit my check, and then it turned out it took literally less then 30 seconds to do. I guess I don't know why I thought it would take longer... you know, besides the language barrier and all. And then stores don't open before 10. So... bummer.

Three hours of language classes at 10am is just a terrible idea. And it just makes me more stressed that I don't know the language. So that's lame.

After the wonderful French class, I had a fabulous lunch with mes amies. I had a crepe with Nutella and bananas. Strong choice, Cassie. It was heaven. Also, the most amazing moment of my day was when we discovered what the difference is between a croque monsieur and a croque madame. A croque madame has an egg! Hahahaha!!!

C'est bon.

Anyway, then we took a wicked long walk around Le Marais and Notre Dame and the Village Saint-Paul and Les Vosges. It was nice... and very old. Gotta love that about Europe, everything is waaay mad older than in the US. We also met some very nice children, about ten years old, on a playground. They study English, and we study, French so we had a nice exchange:

What is your name?
Je m'appelle Cassie.
I love you, Cassie.
Je t'aime aussi.

Good times.

After our lovely walk, I decided it was really absolutely time that I stop freezing to death. So what else do we do? We shop! A few friends and I went to the Galeries Lafayette pour faire du shopping. Then we discovered everything was uber-expensive. So we walked down the street, and I bought a really nice, warm jacket at Mango for only 30 euros. I was very pleased with myself. I also bought a phone earlier today. That also only cost 40 euros. Sweet! But now I have a phone number, by the way. You can call it if you really want... but it might be more expensive for you. Heh.

Anyway, I went home for dinner. My mother made me some sort of tomato tart or quiche. I dunno. It was delectable... with a fried egg on the side. Also quite delicious. Then cheese... and then fruit... as usual. J'aime bien le fromage.

Then I went back out by myself. I went to L'Arc de Triomphe and I walked down the Champs-Elysees. I stopped at Haagen-Dazs and ate ice cream while I did my pseudo-homework. 'Twas fun. 'Twas nice. 'Twas relaxing... except for the fact that it really does take me forever to get anywhere. So it was an hour there and an hour back. Oy.

So now I'm exhausted. And I will go to bed.

It was only my second morning, and I already overslept. I was supposed to meet everyone to buy phones! So I don't have a phone... which sucks. So I cried for about thirty seconds and then got over it. But I'm going at the crack of dawn tomorrow to buy one. Then I will feel at ease. I hope.

I wandered around Montparnasse today, because that's where the Tufts office is and the classrooms, etc. It's a very commercial area, but it was still fun. We were in our orientation session for four hours. Ugh. Again, my brain was on overload. I don't speak French that well. Oy.

We talked about la vie parisienne and how to deal with our host families, etc. They talked about how it is indeed possible to live like an American in Paris, but wouldn't you rather fit in? So they're trying to make us Parisians! We'll see how well that goes over.

Then we set up our bank accounts. Yay! Money! That's always good stuff, eh? So I have a French bank account now, and tomorrow morning (also at the crack of dawn), Chantel and I are depositing our checks. So we'll have money! Yay! Then we can finally eat lunch! Yay!

They also served us galette, which is an almond-paste-filled pastry, which is mm...mm...delicious. My family served me one yesterday for lunch. It has this whole tradition behind it, as it is the food of the king or something, and they eat it on the feast of the epiphany. Some Catholic thing. I don't really know. But the point is that it has a special treat or favor in the middle, and whoever gets the piece with the treat in it gets to wear the crown! I didn't get it today, but I got it yesterday, so now I have a crown, that looks like it's from Burger King. Love it.

Anyway, then I ate dinner at home. Mom, you would be proud. I ate a grapefruit. I eat so well here, it's incredible. She also fed me this chocolate fudge ice cream chestnut cake... or something like that... with English cream on top. It was quite literally heaven. My host mother now knows that I love chocolate, so she feeds me chocolate a lot. Hehe. I am so happy.

Anyway, then I finally asked my host mother all the questions that I should have asked earlier. So now there's no confusion over anything. Yay! I also watched the news with my host parents. I understood only one of the eight or ten segments, and it was only because it was about teaching English to five-year-olds. They have American or English teachers teach the French by webcam, because it's apparently very important for the children to hear a real accent and not a French accent with their English. Also, these French teachers are buying iPods for the entire class (keep in mind they're like five), and they have English recordings they listen and repeat. Crazy, yea? The other segments were probably more relevant, but I can't understand. Oh well!

I did read Le Figaro, and I found out the Nevada caucus results and other election news in French. I felt pretty good about that. My parents also gave me an easy French book to read. It's like a ten-year-old boy in a hospital who's about to die, and he's writing letters to God. Pretty uplifting, eh?

Did I mention that someone asked me for directions yesterday? I was just going into the metro station, and another woman was coming out, and she asked me where the cinema was. Luckily, I actually knew, and I actually told her where. I guess I look somewhat like a local. Granted, I don't live in the city, so it's a less crazy, more easygoing area.

So far I've been able to express myself at the pharmacie and at the cafes. It's just difficult to talk to my family for a long time. Tomorrow we start our French review courses. Then we're taking a mini-tour of Paris. So far so good!

Today was great. I actually made contact with people. Meaning I wasn't just talking to my family all day. I saw other students!

I forgot that all the milk here is whole milk. I was glad I had corn flakes to somewhat hide the taste. Another thing I'll get used to. Like wine. I will eventually like wine, I swear.

This morning I went shopping with my host mom. She took me to the market and showed me where she buys her bread and meat. Everything smelled good. It's totally different from the US, in that you go to separate places for each thing you want to buy, but it's so much better! So worth it.

Then my host parents fed me lunch. I ate French fries! And because I'm in France, they actually count as French! But I had to eat them with a fork, which was a weird experience. The only thing you're allowed to use your hands for is bread, and you use the bread to soak up all the juices and excess food on your plate. Also, you set your silverware so that it's half on the plate and half on the table, quite unlike American manners. Dad would fit in well here.

Then my host parents took me on a two-hour driving tour of Paris. That's when I had my first massive overload of French. I simply couldn't take in anymore. And they just kept talking, and I absolutely stopped comprehending. I stopped listening. My brain shut down. Total insanity. I was so happy to see other Americans tonight.

I went to wine & cheese with all the other Tufts-in-Paris students, including the year-long ones. It was nice to talk to them. They seemed much more comfortable speaking the language, so I can only hope I'll get there eventually, too. There was so much cheese and so much wine. It was excellent. Then we all agreed to meet tomorrow morning to buy phones. Tres important.

But it was only 8pm when we were done, so we all decided to wander around the city for a few hours. We ended up somewhere along the Seine, and then we found ourselves in front of Notre Dame, and we took lots of pictures.



We wandered toward the Hotel de Ville, and we found an ice skating rink that's only 5 euros! It was closed, but we all agreed to come back another time. We eventually ended up drinking chocolat chaud et vin chaud (hot chocolate and mulled wine) at a cute cafe right across from Notre Dame. It was very necessary. And just generally a good time.

Also, for the record, I have 5 different maps in my purse. Also very necessary.

I'm here! I'm alive... barely. I think they put crack in my chocolate chip muffin this morning on the plane... which could have caused me to spill my yogurt all over myself. That was... messy.

I lucked out. I sat in the back row, and I had an aisle seat, and no one sat next to me. So I sprawled out across both seats and slept for over four hours. Then they made me eat breakfast. (See above.)

So surprise! Everyone speaks French here. What was I thinking? In my few short hours here, I've discovered I'm pretty good at understanding, but I can't actually respond. I sort of look at them stumped for about an hour, before I come up with the first word... but whatever.

I also enjoy how no one in my program knew what was going on when we got here. We didn't know if someone was meeting us or if we had to find our families on our own or what... so after we got our bags and went through customs, we just stood around for awhile going... hmm... what now? Do you know what we're supposed to do? No, it didn't say anything in my information. Me neither. Should we exit the airport? I think we should just stay here. Someone will find us, right?

And someone did. They told us to get on a bus. So we did. But we didn't know where we were going... Then they told us to get off. So we did. And we stood around for awhile... randomly in the middle of Paris. Again, no one telling us what was going on. Then suddenly, our families started to randomly show up. Good times!

My family has a car. I felt pretty special. I got to ride in a car! Whoa, dude! So the nice couple drove me back to their apartment in Boulogne-Billancourt, which is right outside of Paris. It's nice and sweet here. I can see children playing soccer... I mean, football... in the yard below me. I totally have my own balcony. Cha-ching!

Also, my host brother and sister are adopted. They're actually Korean. So they Korean-French? I dunno. I met Nicolas today, and I'll eventually meet Camille, but she doesn't live here.

For the record, I'd also like to point out that I have been here for about three hours, and I've already had eight different kinds of cheese.

This is going to be a wonderful semester.